03-23-18

The value is joy. A sense of joy is one of the surest ways to live life most deeply.

For cooking we’ll make pretzels in the shape of numbers and letters

Outside we’ll make bubbles, even great, huge bubbles.

The songs we’ll be singing are Puff the Magic Dragon, Ain’t It Great to be Crazy?, Do Your Ears Hang Low?, Zippity-do-dah, and Where is Thumbkin?

Our art activities are Pinocchio, three pigs houses, Jack and the beanstalk, and snouts.

Creative dramatic activities will be imaginary friends and magic objects.

For body development, we’ll work on stamina by pretending to be bubbles. For motor development we’ll work on bilaterality exercises with food chain, play golf, wishing well, and sack races.

CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITIES

At one time, the school’s website opened with this invitation. It invited us to think about the dreams we have for our children — and for ourselves. Dreams of being able to do anything we really want to do. Dreams of making someday today. Then reality rears its ugly head, and we do the very thing we don’t want to do. We snap at our kids, we’re rushed, harried, and multi-tasking through the day. The laundry needs to be done and the kids are whining. At the school, we see children who are afraid to get dirty or who have to wear a coat when they’re not cold. They start young with their “have-too’s” and “should’s”.

So what is the possibility here? What if I said what I meant and meant what I said — without making anyone mad? Well, it means knowing what I meant and not cluttering it up with a lot of garbage. It also means listening to the story coming back from over there. When our child consistently doesn’t want to eat, wear his coat, or go to bed, it means we have to learn to get real buy-in for what needs to be done.

When things are not working for us at the school, first we notice that they’re not working. Maybe we noticed because of the headache we went home with, an unconfessed dread about going to work tomorrow, or someone has complained. This is an opportunity to stop and analyze what’s going on. Why are the children reacting the way they are? Is it how the room is arranged? Is it the schedule or routine of the day? What can we add, change, or eliminate? Do we have colleagues to advise us? Sometimes what we are totally in the dark about is as plain as day to them. Sometimes our kids will tell us, if not in so many words, by their actions or lack of cooperation. Spouses and co-workers many times communicate this way.

What if I want to consider the possibility of immersing myself in experiencing life? Our little ones are so ready to join us in that possibility. One of our teachers teaches children to play in the mud – head-to-toe, squish in the fingers, ooey-gooey mud. It’s an enormous sensorial experience, flooding their brains with all kinds of sensations. It’s a lot of work, but that teacher is so connected with life — and with her children.

You know what your possibilities are. Maybe it’s having deep connections with the people in your life. Maybe it’s not snapping at your spouse for working late again. Maybe it’s living in an extreme sport or dancing again. Maybe it’s being at peace with relaxing on Saturday morning instead of being stressed with how much you have to do before you go back to the stress of Monday morning.

If you react to these ideas with your usual reasons for why these dreams don’t happen, they’ll never happen. Instead, consider the possibility of making adjustments so your dreams can happen. What would happen if you listened deeply to the real communication instead of making a snappy comeback? What if dinner is five minutes late so your child can finish telling you his story? There are a million ways you can handle things differently to change the outcome. You just have to consider what your possibilities are.

On the Calendar

Door Lock Update – The installation of the new door lock will be on Thursday March 29.

Scabies – We have been notified that one of our students in the toddler class has scabies, it is an itchy, highly contagious skin disease caused by an infestation by the itch mite. Direct skin-to-skin contact is the mode of transmission. A severe and relentless itch is the predominant symptom of scabies.

Easter Egg Hunt – We’ll have a jolly good time with our Easter eggs on Thursday, March 29. Please bring your plastic eggs by Tuesday the 27, so we’ll have time to sort them out.

Good Friday Holiday – The school will be closed on Friday, March 30, in honor of the Easter holiday.

April Fool’s Day – We’re not willing to let a perfectly good opportunity to be crazy get by us because of a fluke of the calendar. So – on Monday, April 2, we’re all going to come dressed really CRAZY11I for a fun day of riddles and creativity. Encourage your little one to be really wild could be silly socks, wacky hats or a funny shirt to list a few.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Evan seems to enjoy working with the teen’s board he also works at practicing how to write his name that skill he will soon master. Woojin had his first lesson on the spindle box he is now learning how to apply a quantity to numbers 0-4. After a lesson on how to roll up the rug, Garance enjoys practicing over and over again.